Chapter 44 - Louis and Pina

After a busy Saturday which concluded with the two setting up an appointment with their new therapist for next Monday, Legosi and Louis slept peacefully and soundly throughout the night. Louis got up in time to make Legosi his breakfast before he left for work. Now all Louis could do was wait for Pina to arrive.

Louis found the radio that Sebun had ended up returned and set it up, wondering what all they would possibly do during their hangout. He had one important thing on his mind, but he wasn't sure if he really wanted to tell Pina or not.

He was wearing simple shorts and his maroon tee shirt, but that was about it aside from his eyepatch.

He debated on making lunch for a while but then decided to wait until the sheep got there to figure out what they wanted.

Louis' phone buzzed with a text from Pina a little before noon.

Pina: heyy im heading ur way now

Louis: Okay, be safe.

Pina: oh fuck! i just fell off the train and onto the tracks and lost my leg again :(

Louis: Good thing it's detachable! You can get another one at the market nearby.

Pina: yeah when u see me im gonna have a elephants foot.. anyway be there in a jiffy

The deer chuckled and put on some jazz, sitting down and messing around on his phone while he waited for the other herbivore to arrive.

It was around a half hour when Louis heard heavy boots outside of his door, followed by soft, rapid knocks that could only be achieved by using two hands.

The buck walked to the door, opening it, some of the jazz music leaking out into the hall. "Yo, Pina."

"The one and only." Pina walked in, wearing a simple dark pair of jeans and his black hoodie. His face had no makeup on it and his wool was all messy. "Did you know it's windy as hell out today?"

"I didn't. It must be a nuisance with all that wool in your face." He shut the door and turned. "Make yourself comfortable."

Pina undid his boots and stepped into the living area. "Cozy, as always. And you weren't lying about liking jazz."

"Oh, yeah. Well, I just thought it would be nice to put on, you know?"

Pina sat down on the couch and rubbed at his prosthetic. "Good music to listen to when you're waiting. It's free, dynamic, and wild. Kind of like us, huh?"

"I guess so. How have you been since Friday?"

"Oh, just spending time with Bill. We went to a love hotel after the hot springs, y'know? There's one near the black market that allows gay and interspecies couples."

"Oh, wow. That sounds romantic." He sat down on the couch. "I never really saw the need to go to one of those. It seems like a waste of money to me."

Pina turned to give Louis his full attention. "Oh, it's not too expensive! Plus, you have total control of temperature, lighting, a fully stocked bathroom, and one of the walls is one big mirror! You can put on TV or music, too. Might not be too special for you, but for a couple like me and Bill that don't really have many secure places to be alone now, it was a nice treat."

"I'm happy you had a nice romantic night after that. I had a feeling after being naked around each other you'd go off and do something like that," he chuckled.

"Oh, yeah! Can you believe that's the first time I ever saw Bill completely wet? The wet fur hugged his muscles just so~"

Louis laughed. "Cats hate water, I'm surprised he was so calm with everything."

"Cats hate water, but love being lazy little shits. It balanced out for him. Plus he got to see me naked, so I guess that pushed it into a positive experience for him," Pina chuckled with Louis.

"Well, at least he held back until after." His head rested back on the couch and he looked up. "Mmm...Yeah. That was so relaxing. Just what I needed."

"What, you think he'd just rail me right then in front of you all?"

"I never know with you two."

"Hey, we're not stupid," Pina scoffed, lightly. "What about at the dance when you two got kicked out by Gon?"

"Mmm. We had never done it by that point. I can't believe you remember that."

The sheep adopted a new, deep, booming voice. "I. Remember. Everything!" His greenish blue eyes bored holes into the deer before he laughed once more. That angelic, yet impish laugh.

Louis rolled his eyes. "I see…That feels like so long ago...That was the first night we did it."

"Yeah, I think you mentioned before. Glad it worked out."

"Well, I'm glad it worked out for you, too. Funnily enough, Legosi and I had sex Friday night, too."

Pina clapped his hands. "Hooray for gay carniherbi sex! Show all those wacko 'experts' on TV that they don't have all the facts!"

"Not even close," Louis smiled at him.

"It's all sensationalized bullshit. We only hear about the cases that we do because the government prioritizes the creation of children to enter the workforce. And to make good workers you need pureblooded kids from like-species heterosexual couples." Pina sat up straighter as he went on his sudden tirade.

Louis raised a brow. "I know. It really is bullshit. Gay animals are considered useless by society, but we can still work! There are still more straight couples than gay couples. It's not like it's my fault I enjoy the male form more than a female's."

"And everything in-between or outside," Pina added. "It's just something I've been thinking a lot more about since that shit with my parents. They buy into all that crap and always have."

Louis' eye bulged a bit. "Am I finally going to learn what happened there?"

Pina sighed and brought his phone out. "How about we listen to some music and I'll tell you in a bit."

"Oh, alright." He moved his head to look at the ceiling again. "Go ahead."

"Well, you gotta turn off your own music, first."

"Oh, sorry." He got up and switched off the radio, which had been in the middle of a steady saxophone solo.

"Alright, so let's start off with Forest of Void. It's one of their tamer songs that should ease you into it." Pina produced a small speaker and wire from his hoodie pocket which he connected to his phone.

Louis nodded, coming back and sitting with his back leaned against the arm of the couch, his knees bent in front of him. "Alright, sounds good."

Pina set the round speaker between them on the couch and pressed play on his phone. The beginning was atmospheric, combining piano and synth together to create a calming yet foreboding picture.

There was subtle build up which eventually reached a summit, letting loose a cacophony percussion, bass, and guitar. The music was intense yet the lead guitar retained a sense of melody, holding back the waves of chaos beneath.

At the apex of a blistering chord progression, the vocalist made himself known, his smooth and strong voice shifting into that akin to a carnivore, with growls and guttural yells.

A sort of back and forth developed between melody and chaos, all the while Pina tapped his foot and bobbed his head, his eyes closed except when he opened them to try and gauge the deer's reactions.

Louis was clearly listening closely. When the song progressed, his ears twitched, eye opened, and there were audible pleased noises.

A mournful yet powerful guitar riff broke out, demanding the listeners' attention before the singer let out one, long, mournful wail which concluded the song. Pina brought his fingers together and chewed idly on his thumbnails, waiting for Louis to speak.

"Wow. That was...really good," Louis grinned, wiggling a bit in his seat. "The guitar was...awesome. Oh and his voice! Who knew deer could be so loud?"

Pina laughed. "Wow! I was so anxious that you weren't gonna like it! Whenever anyone asks about this sort of thing and I show them I can just see the color drain from their face."

"And yeah! Matthas the sika deer is an absolute legend! You know, metal has long since been a carnivore-dominated genre, both listeners and musicians. But Gnarled Horn really is a trailblazing band in the genre! Their drummer is gay, too!" Louis had never seen Pina gush before. He managed to be high energy while also maintaining a neutral and informative tone.

The deer grinned. "Sounds attractive."

"Oh, all of the dudes in that band are pretty as hell. They're all deer but it's not a speciesm thing, either!"

"That song we just listened to is actually about the solitude and loneliness animals face due to how isolated we all are due to society and segregation. I know it's hard to actually hear the lyrics but once you read and memorize them you can follow along." Pina smiled and attempted to further fix his messy wool.

"Wow...That's deep. No surprise that I like deep music. Maybe one day, they'll get a hot canine in the band I can fawn over."

"Ahaha, 'fawn'." Pina stroked his chin as he thought. "There's a metalcore band I listen to called Cauterize Soul who's fronted by a tundra wolf named Miska." He tapped a few things on his phone and then turned the screen to face Louis, showing the image of an intimidating yet handsome looking wolf performing on a stage.

The deer leaned in, looking at the picture just a bit too long. "...I mean, no wolf will compare to Legosi, but he is hot."

"I don't expect you to think any wolf can compete with Legosi. That's your man right there." The sheep tapped on his phone again, getting the next song ready.

"Mm...yeah..." He huffed dreamily.

"So...do you know when you first started finding carnivores attractive? Or specifically canines?"

"I guess it became more apparent around the time I got to Cherryton. Everything about canines just makes me want to stand there and drool." Louis waved his hand. "I must sound ridiculous."

Pina grinned at him. "I don't think so! I mean everyone has a preference for things like that. Although, for me, I'm still not sure. Bill is my boo, of course, but I can appreciate all animals, I think."

This made Louis laugh again. "I understand that. Go ahead and put on the next song."

"Alright, here's Stained Prey. Despite the title, this song is about how all animals are prey to the will of the powers that be, and how no animal can escape it unless they're born into that power."

With a press of the screen, the song took off. No slow buildup this time. Right out the gates the drums laid in with brutal blast beats while the guitars chugged, all the while following the path set by the fast as hell bassline. Matthas hit strong with punchy vocal delivery that conveyed a barely contained rage. Suddenly, his voice screeched so high both animals' ears would have flown back.

"Fuuuck yeah! There he goes with those sick whistle register notes! God, what a talented man." Pina had managed to stop headbanging long enough to say that, but right afterward he went back to the movements. That must have hurt with horns, but he seemed uncaring.

Louis didn't move his head as hard as the sheep, but he was nodding and he extended his legs a bit on the couch as he looked at nothing in particular, really trying to take in the full wall of sound.

"Oh fuck, get ready!"

Pina's warning preceded a lowering in pitch all across the board in the song. The short, deep notes dug into their psyches while the percussion sent waves out into the air, reverberating through their bones. It turned out that this musical breakdown was also the ending point, the song, concluding just as suddenly as it arrived.

Louis' mouth hung open. "Blown away."

"Literally and figuratively!" Pina beamed at the deer, now sitting on his knees and looking down at him with excitement. "See, that's why I said at dinner it's good your antlers were gone because they would have flown off."

Louis rolled his eyes, once more. "Music is powerful."

"Fuck yeah, it is. Wanna listen to the whole album?"

"Sure! I'd love to. I bet it's incredible." The eyepatched buck looked starstruck.

"Then let's get into it!"

It was around thirty minutes and 10 tracks later when the two herbivores found themselves at the end of the brutal yet sometimes beautiful album. In that time the two had set their legs down, tangling a bit in the center of the couch. Pina's false leg was a bit pliable, so it didn't hurt to lean against. He wiped imaginary sweat off his brow as he looked to Louis for the verdict.

Louis, meanwhile, had once again fallen into his habit at looking at the ceiling. He sighed. "I have no words. That was...That was..." He shook his head, wiggling his leg a bit. "I can't even describe it."

Pina leaned forward and ruffled the short fur between his two antler nubs. "Haha! I can't believe I got you into them! You have no idea how happy this makes me feel! Usually when I show them to Bill he's like 'Oh that sounds cool, babe!' but then he just changes the subject immediately."

"No, no! It really does sound cool. I didn't realize how good the percussion was going to get throughout the whole thing and the flow of the whole thing...It was like I was taken to another world..."

"Yessssss!" Pina rubbed his head a bit more before backing off and scooping up the speaker.

"Hahaha! Can I show you my favorite jazz album...?"

"Sure! Might make it easier to talk about...that...too."

"Of course, of course." He reached his hand out for the phone.

"As long as you're okay talking during it. Don't wanna be rude," Pina clarified.

"Oh, uh...maybe I can play another one after it and then we can talk? I just think you'll love the album. I have every song from it on me and Legosi's sex playlist. I told you about the band. Golden Sunset?"

"Yeah, you did, but did you say 'sex playlist'?"

"Uh...Maybe..." Louis smiled bashfully, rubbing the back of his head.

"That's fucking adorable. Anyway, yeah we'll do whatever you wanna. I'm just here for the ride." Pina smiled and leaned back onto the arm of the couch.

The deer grabbed the phone and queued up the new album. "I hope this isn't too romantic..." He nervously pressed play and leaned back once more.

"...Yeah. Um, yeah." Pina brought his hands in front of him and fiddled with them. Very Legosi-esque, Louis noted, which was uncharacteristic for the confident herbivore in front of him. "About the hospital...I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Louis shrugged. He leaned back and let the music continue, intending for that to be the end of the conversation.

Pina continued. "No, I should be. I took advantage of you while you were vulnerable, and it was really not a good thing for me to do."

"I needed it at the time. It's fine, Pina. Just listen to the music."

Pina sighed and leaned back again, brushing his feet against Louis' leg.

The whole album played out and it was indeed, gorgeous and romantic. It took them both to another world that was far different from the dark and fiery hell of the last one. This time they were in a dimly lit, warm, and soft reality where the music just hugs you and never lets you go until the end.

Throughout the whole thing, Pina could definitely tell this is what Legosi and Louis would make love to. He would have to ask Bill if he would be interested. A night of soft, passionate love set to this score seemed so utterly different and amazing to the sheep at that moment.

Louis had a genuine smile and he even sang along very softly at some parts. It was clearly obvious he had a strong passion for the whole thing.

The moments the stag sang saw Pina almost immobilized. His voice was so soothing.

After it was over, Louis let out a long sigh. "I did love your album, but there's just something about that one that will never let me go."

Pina brushed their legs together, again. "It was really nice. I felt the music like they were waves." He looked up to look at Louis. "And of course different genres are going to get different reactions from people."

"I'm so glad you loved it. Legosi always enjoys it, too. Alright, alright, here comes another one that I like just a little less." He put on the second album which was by the same band. "So...I'm ready to talk." Even as he said this he sang just a little of the first song, quietly.

"Alright. So...I guess I'll start from when I got a call from my parents saying they wanted me to visit and for them to meet Bill. Of course, all they knew was he was my carnivore friend who saved me from Riz."

"Right, right." More subtle singing. "You must have been nervous."

"I was. I knew they were up to something, but I went, anyway. Poor Bill was even more nervous." Pina twirled idly at the wool by his face. "Right off the bat, as soon as we get in, my mom and dad were asking invasive questions. They disguised it under the guise of being 'open' and 'inclusive' or whatever, but they were clearly trying to determine how big of a threat Bill was."

"What was Bill like? Was he a nervous wreck like Legosi would be?"

"Well..." Pina's eyes went to the ceiling as he thought. "Not as bad, I think. He perked up when my mom asked him about his fucking Catsune Mewku hoodie. God, he went on and on and my parents had no idea what words were even coming out of his mouth."

"That sounds like him!" Louis chuckled, then sang. "So...what happened next?"

"Well, at dinner, it all kind of came tumbling out. I don't remember specifics, but we told my parents that we were dating, and Bill really stood up to them! He's really brave and wonderful and...I was really proud of him. We then retreated to my room while my parents sat and thought and eventually my dad came in and told us to get out."

The buck frowned. "Oh...So, where did you go after that?"

"Well, to Gosha's actually."

Louis smirked. "Taking a picture out of my book, hm?"

"Well, I did still have that address in my messages, and we didn't wanna go back to Cherryton. Don't worry, we didn't fuck in Legosi's childhood bed," Pina assured.

"I remember that. Our second time. Did you know I held his tail in my teeth?"

Pina gawked. "Oh my god. What did he think of that?"

"He thought it was really hot. Of course, I think it was the most attractive myself, him being a canine and all." He brushed some fur on his cheek, humming with some trumpet.

"Crazy for canines, like always..." The other herbivore sat up and crossed his legs, staring down at the couch.

"Hahahaha, mhm. So did you just go back home after that?"

"Well, on impulse, I went and visited Riz," Pina revealed.

"Wait, wait, wait." Now Louis sat up, the music going on without him adding his voice to it. "Really?!"

Pina nodded. "Just...something that ate at me for a bit until I suddenly had the courage to do it. I thought it'd help my recovery from the incident to face him and show him he didn't break me."

"Wh-what...How is he?"

"Can't talk due to Bill fucking up his throat." Pina tried to recall details from the visit. "He seemed...hollow. At least, at first he did. The more I talked, the more he seemed to actually be listening to my words. I think he truly regrets what he did."

Louis laid back again, sinking down more, his legs extending a bit further. "No matter what...two animals are dead because of him, even if he regrets it. I mean, imagine if he had killed all of us during the fight. Would he regret it, then?"

Pina grumbled. "Yeah. I don't know. From what Bill says, he and Legosi talked with him a lot and kind of showed him he was delusional. So...if he killed us all...honestly he'd probably be caught anyway because that's just too many victims. But I don't know. It's not worth thinking about. What happened happened."

"...Yeah..." The cervid once again hummed with the music, trying not to let his mind run too far.

The two fell mostly silent again, of course with Louis' singing and humming still prevalent.

The shorter herbivore spoke once more. "I'm sorry that happened with your parents...It's awful. I almost can't fucking believe it. How can people be like that to their own flesh and blood?"

Pina shrugged. "It's what happens when they value some societal idea over actual animals."

Louis got up, moving forward and hugging the sheep. "Well, you don't deserve that. I know what it's like to have...parental issues."

Pina hugged back, leaning into it and tucking his nose beneath the deer's chin. "Yeah. I'm glad your dad got that stick out of his ass. I think my parents will, too, one day, but maybe I'm just being too optimistic..."

"You never know..." He sang more, just to try and comfort him. It was a bit louder this time.

Pina slowed his breathing down, closing his eyes and letting himself rest against his friend. Just his friend.

They sat there, hugging, with Louis becoming more confident in his singing and improving as he went on.

"You're good at singing," Pina commented, quietly.

"I've had more practice than you'd think..." He hummed. "But no real training. It could be better."

"You're gonna take vocal lessons and then sing like Matthas," the sheep chuckled, before nuzzling slightly into his shoulder.

The deer rubbed his back, and Pina could feel his laugh from his chest. "As if. I could never be so loud..."

"I've tried practicing myself but you really need an instructor to walk you through it so you don't fuck up your throat." Pina brought his hands to Louis' back and rubbed, as well.

"I think I'm fine being more of a softer singer." He began letting go. "I mean, I won't do anything of it, but it's nice."

Pina clung for a second before letting go as well. "Yeah, it suits you. And Legosi, too. Don't think he'd be keen on loud noises."

"Trust me, he isn't." Louis sat back, smiling at his face. "We just went to my father's for dinner yesterday, actually."

"Oh? How'd that go?"

"Way better than I could have imagine." His smile grew. "We have therapy scheduled, we learned about his past, Shogi's going to get his job back...and he said he's going to try and get Legosi and I married, legally."

Pina's mouth formed a wide, genuine smile. "Oh wow, that's kickass! And I've been worrying about that sheep guy for a bit, too, so I'm glad he can get in on the deal. Is your father really that powerful that he could bend laws around marriage, though?"

"We'll just have to see..." He nodded his head to the current song. "I'm just glad we might even have a chance..."

"Yeah. That's amazing." The sheep leaned his shoulder into the couch. "Bill mentioned something about getting married in the future, but I don't know when that'd be good for us."

Louis sighed. "Us and our carnivores..."

"Yeah..."

Legosi's husband laid back as much as he could as they let the rest of the album play out.

As it ended, Pina leaned forward and laid down, resting his head on Louis' stomach with his legs curled up. "That was a nice album. Also sorry if this is weird..."

"It's okay...It's not, really. Legosi does it all the time. Sorry I kept singing through the whole thing."

"It made it better," Pina admitted. "And...Legosi is different. You two are married."

"Yeah..." Even so, Louis didn't feel like he minded. "Just be careful with those horns."

"What is it?"

"Well...I actually have a crush on you, so that's why I don't want this to seem weird. I'm not, like, trying to do anything, of course. Casual intimacy is important."

"I already know. I've been trying to figure out how to go about the whole thing." He scratched Pina's cheek.

Pina looked up. "Uh...does Legosi know?"

"I don't know exactly what he knows," Louis sighed. "Or what to even do about this whole thing."

"Well...what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. I've never had anyone else but Legosi be interested in me and...there's something exciting about that, I think..."

Pina cleared his throat. "Well...it's not something we should really explore if Legosi doesn't know about it. I know some couples are open like that, but all parties need to be okay with it."

"That's why I was thinking I should call him and see how he feels. I refuse to break his heart again."

Pina blinked. "Call him? At work? To see if he's okay with us doing stuff..."

"I mean, I don't want to get into this if I don't talk to him, almost immediately. I'll just text him and see when he goes on break."

"Uh, yeah." Pina got off the deer and sat up. "And, just so you know, Bill would be okay with it."

Louis texted Legosi, telling him he wanted to call him on break. A few minutes later, his phone was ringing.

"I'm going to step out into the hall, okay?" Louis told Pina.

"Yeah, go ahead." The usually confident male looked small now.

Louis left the room and went out into the hall, going down it a little and sliding his back down the wall. "Hey, Legosi."

"Hi! It's between presentations right now so I was able to call you." The wolf's tone shifted into one of worry. "So, what's going on?"

"Nothing bad! I just...I wanted to completely open and communicate with you so we have no unneeded drama on top of all the shit going on right now."

"Oh, okay. Um, what is it, then?"

"Well...Pina admitted that he has an interest in me. We were just sitting and talking and haven't done anything. I just wanted to discuss because I don't want to do anything stupid that would hurt what we have."

Legosi was quiet for a moment. "Do...do you like him back?"

"I don't know. I'm trying to think about what I want. I don't think I want something where I have to juggle, to be honest. You're my wolf and my husband, but I am interested in experimenting...Honestly, I think having the option open would be nice, but I don't want to have something where I'm dividing my time up between you two. Do you get what I'm saying?"

The wolf's breath blew against the receiver. "I think so. Um, Lou, if I ever felt that way about another animal...I don't know. But I don't feel comfortable with you and Pina. I'm, uh, sorry? But if I ever meet another animal that I feel that way about, maybe I'd be more open to it. But...right now it doesn't make me feel good."

"Yeah. I guess I understand...I was more trying to say I wanted everything to stay the same but if I hung out with Pina and we happened to do something, it would be fine. I'm sorry...I've just never had another animal be interested in me like that before and it was a nice thought."

"Well, I'm interested in you," Legosi said, and Louis wasn't sure if he was joking or actually thought he forgot.

"Legosi, my feelings for you haven't changed because of this, you know."

"I know. What we have and what we have endured...it's made us inseparable. I know that."

"Always. I don't want to get married to Pina. I want to get married to you. He has Bill! I just thought it would be interesting to experiment, but I understand that this is exclusive."

"Yeah...Well, I have to go, now. See you later. I love you so much, Louis."

His deer smiled. "I love you, too, Legosi." He hung up, sighing. It was time to let Pina down, gently. He stood up, returning to the room.

Pina looked up. "Welcome back."

The deer crossed his arms, hip jutting out a bit. "I'm afraid we're going to have to forget about it. Legosi isn't comfortable with us doing anything together."

"Not surprised there." Pina crossed his legs and leaned back. "Wanna know what Bill's reaction was when I told him?"

"Sure." He came back and sat down.

"Take a guess."

"I guess he was all over it?"

Pina grinned. "Yep. Kept going on about how it'd be hot and stuff. That's why he told me to take videos today." He rolled his eyes.

"Ah...Yeah. Won't he be disappointed," Louis grinned.

"Oh shit!" Pina jumped up, stumbling a bit on his leg, but that didn't stop him. "Let's take a video of something really stupid! And then I can tell him I got a video and he'll be all horny and shit and then he'll see a video of us, like, eating relish or something!"

"Relish? Well, alright. Pick something and I'll go along with it."

Pina looked around. "Uhh, fuck, what's stupid?"

"Honestly, we can just take a video of anything and the joke will still work."

"OH! Oh, oh, here!" Pina quickly sat back down next to him, opening his phone. "I'll take a video of us using a FlapChat filter to make our faces all small and voices all high!"

"Um, alright." Louis sat, waiting. "What do we talk about?"

"I dunno. Improvise." The app opened, Pina held the phone out in front of him and looked into the camera. In the screen, Pina and Louis' usual handsome faces were distorted, making their eyes huge and snouts tiny. "Oh my god, your eyepatch got made big, too!"

"Wow, it looks weird. I don't have any apps like this, so I've never seen it before."

"Probably for your own good. If you had FlapChat I would not leave you alone. Anyway, here we go..."

The video recording begin and Louis spoke first. "Hi, Bill. It's Louis, as you can see. I'm afraid that your wildest fantasies won't be coming true. Sorry."

Pina laughed at the distortedly high pitched voice. "What do you mean? This is going to be Bill's new kink, now! Isn't that right, kitty?" Pina made a kissy face toward the camera.

"Ehehe. Naughty, tiger," Louis sighed. "I literally have no idea what to say but I hope you and the Pina with you now end up having a good time from this."

"Oh, fuck that! I'm gonna send this to him right after this and tell him I got a video of the two of us, winky face!"

"Ah, okay. Bye, Bill," Louis waved.

Pina laughed. "Alright, sending this to him now."

The deer looked down at the floor, his mind working and he felt a strange weight on his shoulders.

"Hey, you alright?" Pina asked.

"There's a real reason I wanted to hang out today, aside from the music."

"...And not seeing if you could boink me?"

"I'm never going to hear the end of that, am I?"

"I will if it makes you uncomfortable." Pina rested a hand on his shoulder. "So, what's up?"

Louis scooted closer and leaned in, making his voice as soft as he could. "I have to tell someone else about this, but you have to swear you won't say anything to anyone, even Bill."

Pina nodded, face stone serious, suddenly.

"Last week, I met with a deer who calls himself Ichi. He was my old cell mate, back in the black market. Long story short, he's forcing me to be a part of this...vigilante group there or he'll kill Legosi."

The stag leaned in more and started whispering. "They could be listening. Legosi already knows but he isn't supposed to, so make sure you don't let him know you know. I just felt like I should tell you so if anything happens to us...You'll know why."

Pina's eyes grew wide. He blinked and nodded. "Holy shit. You guys just don't get a break," he whispered back.

"...I know. There's something else. Ichi showed me this...ability he calls Imaginary Chimeras. Basically, you can show animals something that isn't there, somehow. When he demonstrated, I looked at him and there was a big skeleton deer there with glowing eyes. It was...otherworldly."

Pina leaned back and gave Louis a bewildered face. "Are...are you sure he didn't drug you?"

"What? No. I never had anything to eat or drink there. I swear."

"Where did you meet him?"

"At a café nearby."

"So...when do you go to this...group?"

"...Whenever he calls. I've just been waiting for it now. I won't know more until then. Just remember, you can't tell anyone no matter what."

"I won't. And I'll help you in any way I can," Pina said with full conviction.

"Thank you. I'm glad I can count on your friendship."

Pina grasped Louis' hand and squeezed it. "Always."

"So, shall we get back to listening to music? Oh! How about some lunch?"

"Oh yeah! I mean it'd be a late lunch now, but yeah!"

It was late afternoon when the two boys were startled from their perusing of random ZooTube videos by the sound of the door unlocking.

Louis was the one to get up, opening the door and smiling widely at the sight of his husband standing there. "Welcome home."

Legosi stood there, the key held where the handle had been. He smiled. "I could get it!" He stowed the key and bent down to hug the deer tightly.

His partner wrapped his arms around him and squeezed. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, as always." Legosi sniffed into his collar, noting the deer didn't smell too heavily of sheep. He pulled away and stepped inside. "Hi, Pina!"

Pina waved. "Yo, 'gosi! How was work?"

Louis shut the door, walking behind Legosi as he prepared to hear about his busy day.

"Well..." Legosi reached into his back pocket and unfolded a piece of paper, revealing a scrawled child's drawing of what appeared to be himself. "One of the kids who has been to a lot of the presentations gave me this."

Legosi in the picture appeared long and with noodle limbs, an exaggerated smile on his face along with a clear scar over his eye. In his hands he held a nondescript bug, also smiling. For some reason, the sun was in the corner of the page even though he worked at a bug shop. The sun was also smiling.

His husband clapped his hands together. "Wow! Looks like you have yourself a little, fan. Even I can't help but think that's sweet."

"Awwwww!" was all Pina could offer.

Legosi's tail wagged. "Yeah. He was a little wolf pup, and his parents said he really looks up to me. I didn't even think I could have that effect on kids..."

Louis rubbed his shoulders from behind. "Of course, you only have one number 1 fan."

"I don't know. I don't have any pictures from you, now do I?" The carnivore set the picture on the table and bumped Louis with his hips.

"You get a lot more than just pictures from me, wolf~" he purred.

"Woaah, wait for me to leave, first!" Pina laughed.

The canine turned to face him. "Oh, are you leaving?"

Pina winked. "Nah, I think I'll stay a bit still, if you'll have me."

Louis pressed his fingers together. "...Only if Legosi's fine with it."

"You can stay! We're all friends still, after all. I don't mind." Legosi turned to Louis. "Oh yeah, my new schedule for work is Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends. All standard 9-5 shifts. Mel-san is going to have me do paperwork and ordering and stuff for the store, as well as help him upkeep everything."

"That's good. I'm so glad. And here I am still unemployed..."

"Well..." Legosi cleared his throat and stopped himself. He glances out the window. "So, what are you guys watching?"

Pina glanced at the screen. "Uh...looks like random skit comedies right now. Honestly, we were just talking over them."

"It's been nice. We listened to a few albums and just hung out. Nothing big." He almost made a worried face at his mate.

Pina patted the spots next to him. "C'mon, let's all chill out!"

Legosi and Louis sat on either side of him and he nuzzled into both of their arms. "There we go. My original emotional support animals."

"Mhm," Louis grinned, lightly.

"Guess I've had crushes on both of you now," Pina laughed.

Legosi shook his head. "Wait, you had a crush on me?"

"Yeah! I thought you knew!"

"Yeah, he totally said it, Legosi," Louis blinked.

"I must not have been around, then." He turned to Pina. "Well...at least you have Bill."

"That I do, and I wouldn't trade him for anyone."

Legosi beamed. He was so glad that they were still friends and that there was no drama in between the trio. He looked at Louis. "Same with my beautiful deer."